Stewart says two main election issues are transportation gridlock, rising tax burden

by Dan Roem and Tara Slate Donaldson, The  Gainesville Times

25 August 2006, p. A17

“…Growth issues … have been the focus of [Corey Stewart’s] tenure on the board [of supervisors].

” ‘This is a good quality of life we have in this county.’  ‘With growth comes challenges and that’s what this election’s about,’ he said, adding that the main two election issues are ‘transportation gridlock and our rising tax burden.’

“Stewart told the [19 August Republican Party convention] delegates, ‘When we approve large developments, we are essentially approving a tax increase.  It also means overwhelmed public services, transportation gridlock, and crowded schools.’

“To address the county’s transportation and tax issues, Stewart said he had three proposals:  lower-density residential development, more small businesses, and a reexamination of government regulations in the county permitting process.

” ‘When this is all done, and when we [increase] development commercially, we will be reducing our tax burden, spreading it over a large commercial base, and that is going to be the long-term solution to our tax problems,’ he said.”